Forest-steppe marmot

Forest-steppe marmot
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Sciuridae
Genus:	Marmota
Species:	M. kastschenkoi
Binomial name
Marmota kastschenkoi Stroganov and Yudin, 1956

The forest-steppe marmot (Marmota kastschenkoi) is a rodent species of the marmot genus found in south-central Russia.[1] It lives in wooded forest steppe at an altitude of 180–450 m (590–1,480 ft) in a relatively small region located directly east of the upper Ob River.[2] It has traditionally been considered a subspecies of the similar, more southerly distributed gray marmot (M. baibacina), but was separated mainly due to different diploid numbers.[2]

Description

Forest-steppe marmots have a head-and-body length of 45–66 cm (18–26 in), and light individuals weigh as little as 3 kg (6.6 lb) in the spring (after hibernation) and heavy individuals as much as 8.9 kg (20 lb) in the autumn (before hibernation).[2] It hibernates for about 61⁄2 months starting in August or September.[2]

Population

In 2011, it was estimated that the forest-steppe marmot population consisted of about 14,000–16,000 individuals and had been stable over the last several decades, but earlier estimates have been both somewhat above and significantly below this figure.[2]

References

1. Brandler, O.V. (2003). "К видовой самостоятельности лесостепного сурка Marmota kastschenkoi (Rodentia, Marmotinae)" [On species status of the forest-steppe marmot Marmota kastschenkoi (Rodentia, Marmotinae)]. Zoologičeskij žurnal (in Russian). 82 (12): 1498–1505.
2. Kryštufek, B.; B. Vohralík (2013). "Taxonomic revision of the Palaearctic rodents (Rodentia). Part 2. Sciuridae: Urocitellus, Marmota and Sciurotamias". Lynx, N. S. (Praha). 44: 27–138.